Spring setting and tempering machine.



P. E. LITTLE & M. J. RAH'ELSBORFER.

SPRING SETTING AND TEMFERINE MACHINE;

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12. 1915.

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SPRING SETTING AND TEMPERING MACHINE.

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SPRING SETTING AND TEMPERING'MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE '2, I9l5.

Patented Nov 27, 1917.

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APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12. I9I5.

$Q795 Patented Nov. 27, 191?.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

4 3 Q F u Z ZB Wm gi u mfim w PHILIP E. LITTLE Ann MARTIN J.RATTELSDOBEER,

0F CORAOPOLIS, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPRING SETTING AND TEMPE-RING MACHINE.

Application fl1ed Ji1ne 12, 1915. Serial No. 83,846.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, PHILIP E LITTLE and MARTIN J. RATTnLsDoRrnR,residents of Coraopolis, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in SpringSetting and Tempering Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to spring setting and tempering machines.

. The object of the invention is to provide a machine by means of whichsprings may be bent or set and then tempered by a successive action, andin a step by step manner, so that a spring which has been set can betempered without removing it from its setting head, and also permittingthe setting ofpa spring simultaneously with the tempering of previonslyset springs. I

The machine comprises in its essentials a rotatable carrier for thebending heads 10- cated to carry the set springs intoa tem pering bath,together with suitable mechanism for bringing the several bending headson said carrier into operative relation with mechanism for actuating thebending heads, other mechanism for rotating the carrier step by step andfor looking it with a bend-- ing head in operative relation to theactuating mechanism, and means for locking the bending head afteractuation so as to contain and carry the bent spring through the bath. a

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of themachine, showing the tank for the tempering bath partly broken away, andshowing the positions of the bending head on the rotatable carriermerely diagrammatically; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the temperingtanks of a-dou-' ble machine, one of the said tanks being partly insection to illustrate the position of the rotatable carrier therein;Fig. 3 is a detail elevation of one of the bending heads; Fig. 4 is avertical section therethrough on the line 4-4, Fig. 3; Fig. 5 shows amodified form of bending finger: Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the upperportion of a double machine illustrating the mechanism for actuating thebending heads and advancing the carrier from a common source of power;

Fig. 7 is in part a plan view and in part a horizontal sectionillustrating the mechanism for actuating the bending heads; Fig. 8 is aside elevation of the mechanism for advancing and locking the carrier;and Fig. 9

is a sectional view thereof, on the line 9-9, Fig. 8.

The essentials of the machine comprise a rotatable carrier 1 for aplurality of bending heads indicated diagrammatically at A, Fig.

1, and which carrier is journaled on a horizontal shaft or axle 2 in atank 3-containing the tempering bath of oil or other liquid. Extendingover the tank 3 is a frame 4 in which is mounted the mechanism foractuating the bending heads and rotating and looking the carrier 1, theessentials of this mechanism being an eccentric 5 for actuating thebending heads, mechanism for rotating and locking the carrier, indicatedas an entirety by the numeral 6, Fig. 1,"and a pulley or similar means 7arranged to receive power from any suitable source and transmit the sameto'the spring/setting eccentric 5 and the mechanism 6 for rotating andlocking the carrier, all as is hereinafter more fully described.

Each of the bending heads A comprises-a lower or stationary jaw,indicated in its entirety by, the numeral 8, Fig. 4, and an upper ormovable jaw, indicated in its entirety by the numeral 9, Fig. 4,whichlatter jaw is ar-- ranged to be moved toward and from the jaw 8. Each ofthese jaws is provided with a plurality of bending keys, those of thelower jaw being designated by the numeral '10 and being secured directlyto the frame of the carrier 1 by means of tap bolts 15 which passthrough slots 16 formed by cutting away the side faces of adjacent keys,said tap bolts entering threaded holes in the carrier 1; By this meansthe lower keys are vertically adjustable, in order that their upper oractive ends may be set to any desired curvature. The keys for the upperjaws are designated by the reference numeral 10 and are mounted on aplate or jaw member 13, which is radially slidable on the carrier 1,having its end portion projecting behind and guided by plates 29 boltedto the carrier 1 and being normally held in elevated or outwardpositionby. means of helical springs 11 located behind said guide plates29 and at their inner ends bearing against suitable shoulders on thecarrier 1 and at their outer ends bearing against projecting endportions of the plate 13. The movable upper jaw member 13 is providedwith apair of horizontal ribs 19 and 20 provided with alining openingsshanks 18 which enter sockets 21 in the upper keys and which are securedto said rounding the shanks 18 and at their upper ends bearing againstthe horizontal rib 19 and at their lower ends bearing against pinsextending through the shanks 18. Interposed between the upper slidablejaw member 13 and the carrier 1 is a wear plate 12, and said aw memberat its upper surface is provided with a wear plate 30 arranged to becontacted by the eccentric 5 to depress said upper jaw and set thespring. Gage plates 28 are secured between the carrier 1 and the keys 10of the lower jaw and project slightly above the latter, and form gagesor guides for the inner edge of the spring blank and hold the latterproperly in osition while being bent. The central key of the lower jawis provided with a teat 14 arranged to enter a hole at the centralportion of the spring blank 17, as shown in Fig. 4 and preventdisplacement of said blank. The working faces of the keys 10 and 10 willbe of a width corresponding to the width of the spring blanks. In. casea wide spring is tobe bent, the keys may be provided at the working endswith lateral projections as shown at 10, Fig. 5, the latter view showingone of the lower bending fingers modified as indicated. I

Centrally of the jaw members are secured the locking means, thesecomprising a spring member 25 provided with vertical slots and secured ybolts to the rib 20 of the upper jaw member 13 and extending downwardlyand bent slightly outwardly and through the greater portion of itslength lying substantially parallel to the face of said jaw member, andat its lower end provided with the. inwardly projecting hook portion 27.Secured to the lower jaw by means of two of the bolts 15 is a lockingmember 26 provided at its upper end with an outwardly projecting hookportion 27 which is engaged by the hook portion 27 of the upper lockingmember when the upper jaw is forced down wardly in the process ofbending the spring. These simple means provide for automatically lockingtogether the bending jaws by the act of bending the spring, and serve tohold said heads locked together while the bent spring is being carriedthrough the tempering bath. To release said locking member inorder toremove the spring, the member 25 is pried outwardly by means of asuitable bar or tool until the hooks 27 are disengaged, whereupon thesprings 11 immediately elevatethe upper bending aw.

The mechanism for driving the cam 5 for actuating the bending heads isas follows: The driving pulley 7 is secured to a shaft 7 journaled inthe frame 4-, and having keyed The opposite face of said clutch member36 is also provided with a jaw face arranged to engage a locking aw ortooth 42 on a member 41 secured to frame 4. Eccentric 5 j is secured tothe outer end of shaft 35, so that obviously when clutch member 36engages the gear 39 said eccentric will be driven, whereas when clutchmember 36 engages locking member 42 the eccentric will be stopped andwill be locked in its stopped position. The clutch member 36 is movedinto and out of locking arrangements with the gear 39 andlocking clutchmember 42 respectively, by means of lever 31 which is fulcrumed on ashaft 32 mounted in bearings 33 extending outwardly from the frame 4 andhaving its upper end pivotally connected to a yoke 34 on the end ofclutch shifting rod 35 which extends through a bore in shaft 35 and isprovided with a pin 37 extending outwardly through aslot in said shaft35 and engaging the clutch member 36. When it is desired to actuate abending head, the lower end of lever 31 is pulled outwardly, therebymoving the clutch shifting rod 35 inwardly and bringing the clutch 36into engagement with the rotating gear 39. The eccentric 5 makes onecomplete rotation, and acts against the wear plate 30 on the upper faceof the movable bending jaw 9, thus forcing the latter downwardly andbends the spring blank between the curved faces'of the jaw members, andcauses said jaws to be locked together by the locking members 25 and 26.By pushing the inner end of handle 31 inwardly, the clutch member 36 isdrawnout of engagement with gear the carrier 1 is as follows: To shaft 7is.

secured a pulley 47, which is connected by belt 46 to a pulley'45secured to the'inner end of a hollow shaft 44 mounted in a hearing 48 onthe lower face of frame 4. Ex-

-ber 37 splined to and slidable on shaft 35*.

tending through the hollow shaft 44 and ro tatable therein is a shortshaft 55 to whose outer end is secured a cross member 49 provided at oneend with a downwardly projecting locking projection 50 adapted to enterlocking recesses 51 in the periphery of the carrier 1. The member 49 atits opposite end carries a journal pin on which is rotatable a p1n1on 53which meshes with a vice versa. To the short shaft 51,. is secured alever 56, which projects at a slight inclinationdownwardly from thehorizontal, and

I the weight of which tends to hold the locking mechanism in theposition shown in Fig. 8. To unlock the carrier and permit its rotation,the workman lifts the end of lever 56 to disengage the lockingprojection from the locking recess '51 and bring the pinion 53 into meshwith the rack 54. This starts the carrier to rotate, as .soon as thenext locking recess 51 comes into position the lever is released anddrops (or it may be pulled down), thereby disengaging the pinion 53 fromthe rack bar 54, and causing the projection 50 to enter the recess 51 tolock theoarrier in just the right position with the bending headunderneath the actuating cam 5.

The shaft 2 'of the rotatable carrier 1 is journaled in bushings 57secured in openings in the walls of the tank 3 containing the temperingbath. These openings are sealed externally by means of caps 58 bolted tothe side walls of the tank, space preferably being left between theinterior of the caps 59 and the flanges 60 of the bushings 51' to permitof the insertion of a gasket to prevent leakage of tempering nuid.

In the operation of the machine, the spring blank to be bent and temcred is placed in whichever one of the ending heads A is in position tobe actuated by the eccentric 5. In this position, the rotatable carrieris locked against "rotation by the member 49, and the pinion 53 forrotating the carrier is rotating idly. The gear 39 is also rotatingidly. The lever 31 is then moved to bring the clutch member 36 intolocking engagement with the gear 39, whereupon the eccentric 5 isrotated and acts against the upper face of the upper jaw member 9 of thebending head and forces it downward. against the resistance .of thesprings 11 and bends or sets the spring blank between the keys of theupper and lower jaws. Upon reaching its lowermost limit, the lockingmembers 25 and 26 on the bending jaws engage and lock the jaws in closedposition. The lever 31 is immediately actuated to disengage clutch 36from gear 39 and bring it into engagement with the stationary lockingtooth 42, thus stopping the eccentric 5 in its proper position. Theworkman then lifts lever 56 to disengage the locking projection 50 ofmember 49 from the locking time to give it the" desired treatment.

recess 51, in the rotatable carrier 1, and

bring the rotating pinion 53 into mesh with the'rack bar 54. Thisadvances the carrier until the next bending head is brought intoposition to be actuated by the eccentric 5, and when this point isreached the locking projection 50 of member 49 falls into the lockingrecess 51 on the ,carrier which is at that moment in proper position forbeing engaged by said locking member. The process a ove described isrepeated with reference to each of the. successive heads when broughtunderneath the cam 5. When the bending head first acted upon is againbrought into position under the eccentric 5 the locking member 25 isdisengaged from the locking member 26 whereupon the springs 11 lifttheupper bending head and permlt the set .and tempered spring to beremoved and another spring blank to be inserted and subjected to thebending and tempering operations.

The operation of the machine may be so timed that each spring may remainin the tempering bath for the necessary length of In the use of themachine the springs are tempered immediately after bending, withoutremoving them from the bending means, so that not only is there a greatsaving in time and labor, but the springs are also of superior qualitybecause they are held in the bending means while being tempered and thusprevented from warping.

It is obvious that various other arrangements of mechanism for actuatingthe bending heads, for locking the jaws of the bending heads, and foradvancing the carrier step by step, may-be made without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

spring bending means on said carrier and having a member movableradially of said carrler, mechanism independent of sal d carr1er andmounted 1n operative relation to the periphery thereof and arranged toactuate the movable member of said bending means, and mechanism forrotatin said carrier step by step to bring said bendlng means insuccession into operative relation to the actuating mechanism and intothe bath.

2. A spring setting and tempering machine, comprising a rotatablecarrier arranged to extend into a tempering bath, spring bending meanson said carrier and having a member movable radially of said carrier,mechanism independent of said'carrier and mounted in operative relationto the periphery thereof and arranged to actuate the movable member ofsaid bending means, mechanism for rotating said carrier step by step tobring said bending means in successpring bending means on said carrier,anism mounted 1n operative relation thereto sion into operative,relation to the actuating mechanism and into the bath.

3. A spring setting and tempering machine, comprising a rotatablecarrier mounted to rotate on a horizontal axis and arranged to extendinto a tempering bath, spring bending means on said carrier, a framelocated above said rotatable carrier,

mechanism mounted in said frame in oper-' ative relation to said carrierand arranged to actuate said bending means, and mechanism for rotatingsaid carrier step by step to bring said bending means in succession intooperative relation to the actuating mechanism and into the bath.

4. A spring setting and tempering machine, comprising a plurality ofbending heads, a receptacle for a bath, a movable carrier for said intosaid receptacle, mechanism independent of said carrier and mounted inoperative relation thereto and arranged to actuate said bending means,mechanism arranged to move said carrier and bring said heads insuccession into operative relation to said actuating mechanism and intothe bath, and independently controllable power mechanism connecting withboth said bending means actuating mechanism and said carrier rotatingmechanism.

' 5. A spring setting and tempering machine, comprising a rotatablecarrier arranged to extend into a tempering bath,

spring bending means on said carrier, mechanism mounted in operativerelation thereto and arranged to actuate said bending means, mechanismfor rotating said carrier to'bring said bending means in succession intooperative relation to the actuatin mechanism and into the bath, a source0 power, and independently controllable mechanism connecting, saidsource of power respectively with said actuating mechanism and with saidrotating mechanism.

6. A spring setting and tempering machine, comprising a rotatablecarrier arranged to extend into a tempering bath, a plurality of springbending heads mounted on said.

carrier, mechanism mounted in operative relation to-said carrierandarranged to actuate said bending heads, mechanism for rotating saidcarrier to bring said bending heads in succession into operativerelation to the actuating mechanism and into the bath, a driving shaft,and independently controllable driving connections between the same andthe actuating mechanism and the carrier rotating mechanism respectively.

7. A spring setting and tempering machine, comprlsing a rotatablecarrier arranged to extend into a tempering batlll mec bending headsextending and arranged to actuate said bending means, mechanism forrotating said carrier to bring said bending means in succession intooperative relation tothe actuating mechanisnr and into the bath, asource of power, independently controllable, mechan sm connect- 8. Aspring setting and tempering machine, comprising a rotatable carrier.arranged to extend into a tempering bath, a plurality of spring bendingheads mounted on said carrier, mechanism mounted in operative relationto said carrier and arranged to actuate said bending heads, mechanismfor rotating said carrier to bring said bending heads in succession intooperative relation to the actuating mechanism and into the bath, adriving shaft, independently controllable driving connections betweenthe.

same and the actuatin mechanism and the carrier rotating mec anismrespectively, and means for lockin said/carrier with a bending head inposition to be actuated by said actuating mechanism.

9. A spring setting and tempering machine, comprising a rotatablecarrier arranged to extend into a tempering bath, a plurality of bendingheads mounted on said carrier, each head comprising a stationary member.provided with adjustable bending keys, a movable jaw member providedwith movable spring pressed keys, means for actuating sald movable head,a lock for locking said movable head in relation with said stationaryhead after actuation, springs arranged to open said members upon releaseof said lock, and means for rotating said carrier step by step.

10. In sprin setting and tempering machines, the com ination of acarrier, a spring setting and tempering head mounted thereon andcomprising a stationary member provided with adjustable bending keys, amovable member provided with spring pressed bending keys, means foractuating said movable member, means for locking said movable member inrelation to said stationary member after actuation, and springs arrangedto separate said movable member from said stationary member upon therelease of said locking means.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands.

PHILIP E. LITTLE. MARTIN J RATTELSDORFER. Witnesses:

EMMA K. CUNNINGHAM, WILLIAM B. WHARTON.

